Pate

Schefflera digitata

Pate grows readily in the reserve and is recognisable by the soft, limp, serrated leaves, arranged in a palmate shape. Pate is one of the native species which is host to the wood rose (/I Dactylanthus taylori i/) This is a fungus which parasitises some species. Pate can be mistaken for the five finger Pseudopanax arboreus. There are few specimens of five finger in the reserve. The five finger is a more upright tree shape with a darker green leaf. Pate was one of the woods used by the Maori, with kaikomako as a fire lighter (Kaikomako is not found in the reserve but is further up the valley.)